Pity the Poor Pangolins

Pity the Poor Pangolins

Pangolins are among the world’s most harmless and strangest mammals. They are also among its most trafficked animals, being driven inexorably ever closer to exctinction by unscrupulous poachers and wildlife trafficking syndicates. It seems the outrages against these shy and reclusive mammals never end. A case in point: Some 4,000…

Hong Kong will ban the Trade in Ivory

Hong Kong will ban the Trade in Ivory

When it comes to global wildlife conservation, it routinely seems one step forward, one step back. On the upside, though, Hong Kong has now taken a large step forward. The Chinese territory is one of the planet’s largest markets for ivory, and lawmakers in the city state have approved a…

Instagram now Screens Wildlife Photos for Signs of Animal Abuse

Instagram now Screens Wildlife Photos for Signs of Animal Abuse

Millions of people love animals and they also love taking pictures. And they definitely love taking pictures of “cute” and “exotic” animals. Such pictures are extremely popular on social media, where they can get thousands upon thousands of likes. In fact, some such photos have gone viral globally. There’s just…

Indonesia’s Pangolins are being driven Extinct at an Alarming Rate

Indonesia’s Pangolins are being driven Extinct at an Alarming Rate

More than 35,000. That’s how many Sunda pangolins are known to have been lost to poaching and wildlife trafficking within a few short years in neighboring Indonesia. Shocking? You bet. According to a new study by the wildlife-monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC, as many as 35,632 pangolins were seized in 111 enforcement…

Officials at KLIA seize Pangolin Scales sent in the Mail

Officials at KLIA seize Pangolin Scales sent in the Mail

At times wildlife traffickers try to smuggle animal parts out of Malaysia in suitcases at airports. At other times they do so by sending such illicit merchandise abroad by mail. They are quite brazen, yes. Thankfully, alert customs officials can and do regularly step in and stop the shipments from…

The Golden Triangle: the Wild East of Wildlife Trafficking

The Golden Triangle: the Wild East of Wildlife Trafficking

Tigers, elephants, pangolins, sun bears, rhinos, serows, helmeted hornbills, gaurs, leopards, turtles. These are, according to the anti-trafficking watchdog TRAFFIC, the most commonly trafficked endangered species that pass through the so-called Golden Triangle. A small area wedged between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, the Golden Triangle has long been notorious for…

Thieves of Songbirds are now Jailbirds

Thieves of Songbirds are now Jailbirds

For many Indonesians, songbirds aren’t just pretty little things that gladden the heart with their joyful chirps. They are invaluable parts of their culture and very identity. Many of these hobbyists will go to great lengths to acquire prized birds. Those lengths include poaching rare songbirds relentlessly from forests. And…

The Slaughter of Wildlife for Meat in Sabah and Sarawak must Stop

The Slaughter of Wildlife for Meat in Sabah and Sarawak must Stop

Some people see no difference between consuming chicken meat or the meat of protected animals like pangolins. Others positively seek the gastronomic thrill, as they see it, of consuming the meat of rare and “exotic” animals. One can make the argument, as many people have duly done, that ethically speaking…

Keep up the Fight on Wildlife Smugglers

Keep up the Fight on Wildlife Smugglers

Illicit wildlife products have been pouring into and out of Malaysia: elephant tusks, pangolin scales, deer antlers, tiger claws, sun bear teeth and claws. We know because in the past few weeks alone Malaysian authorities have managed to seize tons of such items at ports and airports from Sabah to…

The Online Sale of ‘Exotic’ Animals Carries On. It must be Stopped

The Online Sale of ‘Exotic’ Animals Carries On. It must be Stopped

Many Malaysians frequent Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media outlets to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Others, though, do so with a nefarious purpose: to buy and sell protected animals. Many of these animals are illegally traded “exotic” pets, which range from rare turtles to critically endangered hornbills,…

In Praise of Malaysia’s Sun Bears

In Praise of Malaysia’s Sun Bears

Shambling gait? Tick. Mischievous personality? Tick. Boundless energy? Tick. Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) are among Malaysia’s most endearing creatures. So named for the reddish crescent-shaped marking on their chest, sun bears occupy much of mainland Southeast Asia, including Sumatra and Borneo. Yet we are seeing less and less of…

Another Vietnamese Ivory Smuggler is Nabbed at KLIA

Another Vietnamese Ivory Smuggler is Nabbed at KLIA

And on and on it goes. The smuggling of ivory into and out of Malaysia, that is. Exasperating? You bet. Encouragingly, however, Malaysian officials tend to be on the ball and keep making arrest. The latest such arrest has involved that of a Vietnamese national who was trying to take…

Poachers in Sarawak boast about their Kills on Facebook. For Shame

Poachers in Sarawak boast about their Kills on Facebook. For Shame

You might think that Malaysian authorities’ stepped-up efforts to clamp down on poachers and wildlife traffickers have these wrongdoers on the run. Poachers and traffickers are cowering in fear of arrest, doing all they can to remain undetected. Right? Wrong. Some of the poachers clearly don’t give a hoot about…